Maestro Vettori holds key in a match that has twists and turns to come

Sunday 25 May 2008 19.01 EDT
First published on Sunday 25 May 2008 19.01 EDT

This was supposed to be a pitch for the pacemen, with scorch marks on the ground and wicketkeepers' hands pounded to the consistency of tenderised steak. Instead, the twirly men have run the game, first New Zealand's captain, Daniel Vettori, who played on this ground in an Under-19 international a dozen years ago and who has returned to wreck England's batting with five for 66, his best figures against them; then the Sikh of Tweak, Monty Panesar, who on a frenetic afternoon bowled with real menace to take six for 37, the best return of his Test career to give his side the flimsiest of lifelines.

Having dismissed New Zealand second time around for just 114, the last seven wickets falling for 29 runs as the ball spat at times, and spun from the cracked parched surface, England, narrowly avoiding the ignominy of a potential follow-on, went out to bat yesterday evening needing 294 to turn on its head a game in which for the most part they have been outplayed. In the 27 overs before the close, judicious watchful batting by Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, helped substantially perhaps by them both being left-handers, gave England a solid start of 60 before Cook was caught at short leg. Strauss and Michael Vaughan then took the score to 76, so 218 further runs are required today.

The key to the contest, then, the weather apart, lies in how the England batsmen cope with the tantalising spin and guile of Vettori, who will expect to shoulder the responsibility of driving his team towards a win. The destiny of the game is in his hands and the odds remain against an England success. Fourth-innings comparisons are generally meaningless given the variation in conditions, opposition and circumstance from game to game, but only once have England made more than that in the final innings on this ground and never to win. Yet against that, despite the assertion of the groundsman, Peter Marron, that the pitch was a day further advanced than he would have liked it at the start of the match, it still does not appear to possess the devilment of a fifth-day surface. There is good turn, and not just from the rough, but only if the ball is given a rip, while, some very occasional erratic bounce apart, the seamers have found it hard going. Providing they can keep their composure, England can take this match against the head.

On current form, however, it is asking too much of a batting line-up that once more has failed to deliver a performance that reflects the overblown opinion they appear to have of themselves. There was expectation in the air yesterday morning, especially after the insipid manner in which the innings had stagnated against disciplined bowling on Saturday afternoon. For Kevin Pietersen, who has not enjoyed any success on this ground, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood in particular, there was a chance to rise to the occasion. It proved a massive letdown, all three departing in the space of four overs, Pietersen and Bell to slip catches, the latter off the persevering-into-the-gale bowling of Iain O'Brien, and Collingwood, caught on the crease, lbw to Vettori. Only a pugnacious 30 from Stuart Broad helped England to 202, a deficit of 179.

This, whatever the outcome of the game, is not even close to being good enough. There is consistent denial that the top order are in a comfort zone and there is merit, of course, in continuity of selection. But 11 matches have passed now since the match against West Indies at Chester-le-Street last year when last England managed to reach 400 in their first innings, the bottom line to begin thinking about dominating a match. Something is not right, be it the batting order or the personnel. Bell, who it has to be noted has yet to score a century where one of his team has not done so previously in the innings, and primarily Collingwood, whose last century came in that match at Chester-le-Street, are vulnerable now. Or they jolly well ought to be.

Panesar's bowling saved the team from embarrassment. Taking a leaf from Vettori's book and bowling downwind, he recovered from some early aggression that saw his first five overs concede 25 runs for the single wicket of Jamie How. He found the right pace to bowl and once he got his teeth in, clung on like a terrier, all six wickets coming for just 17 runs in 85 balls. This was quality spin bowling - and included his 100th Test wicket - a nice irony also coming when he had Vettori caught in the deep. He now has 25 wickets in six innings on this ground.

Earlier Vettori himself, man of the match at Lord's, had completed another masterclass. Where Panesar on a roll slices through opposing batting, Vettori is subtler, teasing and taunting, one ball hung in the air, another pushed through, here one spun, there one sent straight on. Infinite variation against deadly, irresistible, ripsnorting turn.

And, it must be added, with fewer histrionics from Vettori. Panesar puts the excessive nature of his appealing down to his excitement for the game, which is an excuse he can get away with only for so long. Umpires are getting tired of it and unless he wants to lose some weight from his wallet he would do well to rein it in.